Where did the walkie talkie terms "houston" and "roger" come from?

Answer 1

I don't think that 'Houston' is a radio term. It's just the place where the US Space Agency was based so that in communications with space craft they would always open with 'Houston here'.

Roger, on the other hand, was a term originally derived by British airmen probably during WW II when radio was not as clear as it is now. It means 'Received' as in acknowledging a radio message and was derived to be used instead of 'Romeo' which is the usual word used for letter 'R' so as to distinguish the acknowledgment of the message and not confuse the transmitter into thinking a message was being returned. Roger was a common Christian name in the United Kingdom at the time.

Other words used were 'Wilco' meaning 'Will co-operate' and 'Over' meaning 'it is your turn to transmit'.

Answer 2

Roger Walkie Talkie

Answer 3

Not sure about "Houston" unless you're talking about astronauts talking to earth--they are talking to NASA in Houston, Texas. Regarding "Roger"--the phonetic alphabet used by the US during WWII was not the modern "Alpha, Bravo, Charlie..." it was "Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog, Easy...". "Roger" was the word for the letter "R". That was, in turn short-hand for "Received" (radios in those days weren't particularly clear so messages were as short and simple as possible). "WilCo" was short for "Will Comply". The International or NATO phonetic alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie...) was adopted in 1951, with the current version being adopted in 1956.

Answer 4

Im not sure about roger, but houston came from instead of astronauts memorizing everyones name at the command center, they said "houston" as the commad center is located in houston texas

Answer 5

The international radiotelephonic spelling alphabet. Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, etc..
But H is Hotel and R is Romeo.
Terms like "Roger" "Willco" and "ten-four" are conventional shorthand tailored by the communities that use them.